Upcoming travel expo to be the largest edition yet

This year’s 12th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo (MITE) will be the largest edition of the event to date, featuring 1,346 exhibition and sales stalls, organizers said yesterday during a press conference, which unveiled details of the event that will take place from April 26 to 28.

According to the same organizers, this year’s MITE will be “expanded in scale and create a greater wealth of business opportunities with seven major highlights.”

The fact that the expo is back to its original date in late April was also noted by the director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, after the postponement of the event last year to summer time.

Senna Fernandes noted this solution was implemented last year to accommodate the event. From now on, however, the event will always occur in April, allowing exhibitors to seize sales opportunities before the summer vacation, whilst also increasing participation by avoiding scheduling clashes with other similar, global events.

Due to the expansion of international exhibitors, which is said to create a stronger synergy in the industry, the exhibition occupies a larger area than normal, incorporating three, rather than two, exhibition halls – A, B and C – of the Venetian Macao’s Cotai Expo.

Another of the novelties of the event is the format, “One exhibition, two places,” which establishes a link between the larger-scaled event in Macau and another event that will occur concurrently in Hengqin, the 2024 Camping Fair, which is dedicated to camping.

As part of the organizing team, the deputy director of the Economic Development Bureau of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Huang Zhongjian, noted in his speech that tourism in Hengqin has been recovering fast since last year, having received 12 million tourists in 2023. This is an increase of 25%, compared to the pre-pandemic figures of 2019. Huang added that, currently, Hengqin’s revenue from tourism has also risen 12%.

The same official noted that even though Macau is a mature destination and focuses on luxury markets comprising five-star hotels and resorts, Hengqin has a strong, complementary focus on nature and ecology, providing the space needed for relaxation and family time.

Huang highlighted that, this year, “the United Nations General Assembly emphasized that sustainable and resilient tourism mainly provides economic benefits, such as through foreign currency exchange, tax revenue, and employment.” He added that, in 2023, “tourism contributed about USD3.3 trillion to the global economy.”

He also remarked that, in 2019, before the pandemic, the total number of tourists who visited the Greater Bay Area was close to 400 million, and the tourism revenue of Hong Kong and Macau alone exceeded HKD500 billion. He emphasized that “tourism has a strong and prosperous position in economic development.”

In this regard, the president of the Macau Travel Agency Association, Alex Lao, noted the participation in this year’s event by representatives from more than 50 countries and regions, as well as those in the tourism industry from several mainland provinces and cities. Lao said MITE would continue to cooperate with the country’s various tourism policies to benefit Macau.

Under the theme of “Meet at MITE: Discovery, Networking, Interaction!” the event, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau SAR, has an area dedicated to gastronomy that will also include a wine cellar.

A pavilion featuring new technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI), will present a snapshot of the tourism industry’s development over the past 25 years, as well as a vision for the future.

Other highlights are the “1+4 Pavilion” and the “New Media Matrix.”

The first aims to present novelties on the government’s strategic development of Macau and its four key industries: health and wellness, modern financial services, innovative technology, conferences and exhibitions, commerce and trade as well as culture and sports.

The second will be used for exhibitors to present their products and services widely across multiple social media channels through the invitation of online influencers who will conduct livestream selling and promotion.

The topic of patriotism and national education will be also presented at the event with a themed pavilion dedicated to cultural museums and educational tourism, the aim of which is to attract the educational travel market.

At this pavilion, cultural museums and institutions, such as the Palace Museum, the National Museum of China, and other patriotic education bases, will be invited to participate in the exhibition, to deepen the concerted development of tourism and education.

MITE to cost MOP33m, gov’t to bear more than half

The 2024 MITE event has a budget of MOP33 million. The MGTO is covering more than half the cost (MOP17.87 million), Senna Fernandes said in response to an inquiry from the media.

She noted this year’s budget is 6% higher than last year’s and that, in addition to the MGTO, MITE’s event partners will also provide financial assistance.

When questioned on the potential easing of visa requirements to facilitate links between Macau and Hengqin, Deputy Director Huang said that it depends upon national policies. He noted that developments in this area would soon occur, noting that, last month, a delegation of central authorities toured the area, recording observations and drafting solutions.